Timewaster's Guide Archive

Yes, I was very impressed by Brandon making the book freely available.  I've long been partial to the Creative Commons philosophy, and am just generally thrilled to see experimentation with the new dynamics and possibilities of the "information age".  (Brandon's annotations are another example of this.)  I'm especially impressed that Brandon would experiment with something so important to his career -- that took courage, and more than a little trust in his readers and fans.

I'm another one who didn't read the book online, despite being tempted from time to time.  I did make a point of buying the hardcover the day it was released, something I don't think I've ever done before.  I really hope the book sells well -- if it doesn't, I worry that Tor (and the rest of the publishing world) may come to see experimentation of this sort as a threat.

Rrikor - site your source please?

Everything I have read says that it will be

AMoL : The Gathering Storm
AMoL : Shifting Winds
AMoL : Tarmon Gai'Don

From brandonsanderson.com:

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Now, some words about titles. Where did THE GATHERING STORM come from? Well, in January where it was decided to split the book, I continued to advocate for something that would indicate that this was ONE book, split into three parts. (I still see it that way.) And so, I suggested that they all be named A MEMORY OF LIGHT with subtitles. I love the title A MEMORY OF LIGHT; I think it's poetic and appropriate. Plus, it was Mr. Jordan's title for the book. That alone is good enough reason to keep it.

And so, I suggested smaller, shorter, more generic sub-titles for each of the parts. With a long, evocative title like A MEMORY OF LIGHT as the supertitle, the subtitles needed to be shorter and more basic, as to not draw attention. The first of these was named GATHERING CLOUDS by Maria's suggestion. Book two would be SHIFTING WINDS, book three TARMON GAI'DON, all with the supertitle of A MEMORY OF LIGHT.

We proceeded with that as our plan for several months. And then, suddenly, Tom got word from marketing that the titles needed to change. The bookstores didn't like them. (You'll find that the bookstores control a lot in publishing. You'd be surprised at how often the decisions are made because of what they want.) In this case, the bookstores worried that having three books titled AMoL would be too confusing for the computer system and the people doing the reordering. They asked for the supertitle to be cut, leaving us with the title GATHERING CLOUDS.

I shot off an email to Harriet, explaining that I never intended that title to be the one that carried the book. It was too generic, too basic. She went to Tom with some suggestions for alternates, and THE GATHERING STORM was what they decided. This all happened in a matter of hours, most of it occurring before I got up in the morning. (I sent her an email at night, then by the time I rose, they'd made the decision out on the east coast.) Some materials had already gone out as GATHERING CLOUDS, and I wonder if THE GATHERING STORM was chosen because it was similar. I know it was the one out of those suggested by Harriet that Tom liked the most. It's somewhat standard, but also safe.

That title swap came at me rather fast. I plan to be ready for the next one, so hopefully we'll have the time to produce something a little more evocative. I don't mind THE GATHERING STORM, but I do realize that it is one of the more bland Wheel of Time titles. (My favorite title, by the way, is THE CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT.)

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There seemed to be a couple inconsistencies. (i.e.  First a lot of houses were burned, then just two of them.  The Myddraal didn't see Rand, but then it's said he can see perfectly in the dark.)

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Only two outlying farms were attacked, but "half the village" is indeed in ashes.

As for the other, I guess sometimes ta'veren just get lucky.  More seriously, I don't think it's a big inconsistency.  Myrddraal can see in the dark, but that doesn't make them all-seeing -- and as you read, you'll learn another reason this one may have suspected somebody was in that area.